Memory is the faculty by which the mind stores and remembers information. Memory is such an important part of man’s nature that philosophers past and present have speculated that it is one of necessary qualities that make us human. Memory is unique as we all have different memories of past events that have happened in our very mismatched and contrasting lives. Memory is a topic which flourishes in the entity of poetry and this essay will explore the contemplations and methods on this theme by six poets: D.H. Lawrence in Piano; Gabriel Okara in ‘Once Upon a Time’; Hide and Seek by Victor Scannel;’ Brothers” by Andrew Forster; ‘ Poem at Thirty-Nine’ by Alice walker and ‘The Long Small Room’ by Edward Thomas,
In the poem, “Piano,” D.H. Lawrence desperately wants his past life back while a woman sings and plays the piano, this triggers his memory and he begins to remember his childhood. When the woman is singing and playing the piano its sounds move him back in time to when he was a child. This poem uses a very noticeable structure to support its main theme. It consists of three regular quatrains in which the poet is listening to a singer accompanied with a piano playing music which “takes me back down the vista of years”, this tells the reader that the music holds the key to the memories returning to him. The memory was while his mother would play the piano he used to sit under the piano accompanied by the strong vibration of the strings, Lawrence sang, and smiled. The smile was most likely caused by the fact that the child was playing with her “small, poised feet” which suggests that the mother was a skilled musician. The beginning of each stanza opens with the poet in the present and listening to music from the piano and the sing...
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... Edward Thomas consists of a similar structure as the poem is also composed of quatrains, however there are four stanzas with rhyming lines of equal length. The poem also shows a clear structure divided into two uneven parts, the first three stanza are a memory of a room in his house which he liked as a child and the final stanza is mainly a contemplation of how his life is at the present. This is shown clearly by the use of past tense in the thirst three stanza and then there is a sudden shift, which occurs, in the last line of the third stanza to the present tense. The change in tenses draws significant similarities between the two poems however in ‘Piano” by Lawrence the change in tenses are sudden and he is going back and forth between the tenses but in ‘ The Long Small Room’ the alterations in tenses are more linear/direct as it just goes from past to present.
The title of this piece, “Remembered Morning,” establishes what the speaker describes in the stanzas that follow as memory; this fact implies many themes that accompany works concerning the past: nostalgia, regret, and romanticism, for instance. The title, therefore, provides a lens through which to view the speaker’s observations.
Imagery uses five senses such as visual, sound, olfactory, taste and tactile to create a sense of picture in the readers’ mind. In this poem, the speaker uses visual imagination when he wrote, “I took my time in old darkness,” making the reader visualize the past memory of the speaker in “old darkness.” The speaker tries to show the time period he chose to write the poem. The speaker is trying to illustrate one of the imagery tools, which can be used to write a poem and tries to suggest one time period which can be used to write a poem. Imagery becomes important for the reader to imagine the same picture the speaker is trying to convey. Imagery should be speculated too when writing a poem to express the big
Early on, poetry was often used with rhyme to remember things more accurately, this still rings true today, even though its use is more often to entertain. However, although it appeals to both the young, in children's books, and the old, in a more sophisticated and complex form, people are bound to have different preferences towards the different styles of poetry. Dobson’s poetry covers a variation of styles that captivate different individuals. “Her Story” is a lengthy poem with shorter stanzas. It’s free verse structure and simplistic language and face value ideas might appeal better to a younger audience. This poem includes quotes with informal language that children or teens would better understand. It’s narrative-based style is easy to follow, and although the poem covers very basic concepts, it’s message is still communicated subliminally. This particular poem is interesting because it focusses on the universal experience of pain and it’s relation to time. Similar to this is “The Householder”, written in a cyclical style, opening with a “house” and ending with a “home”. With only three stanzas, it is
Memory is both a blessing and a curse; it serves as a reminder of everything, and its meaning is based upon interpretation. In Julia Alvarez’s In the Time of the Butterflies Dedé lives through the memory of her family and her past. She tells the stories of her and her sisters lives leading up to their deaths, and reflects upon those memories throughout her daily life. Dedé lives on for her sisters, without her sisters, but all along carrying them with her throughout her life, never moving on. Dedé lives with the shame, sadness, and regret of all that has happened to her sisters, her marriage, and her family. Dedé’s memories serve as a blessing in her eyes, but are a burden
Billy Collins has been called “accessible without being [mundane]” (Pool, par.1). Collins is relatable because he takes situations that most people have been through and puts them into words that are at the same time comic and thought provoking. (Collins once said, “The perfect poem for me to write would be a poem in which the reader couldn’t tell at any point whether the poem was serious or humorous”). In the poem “Forgetfulness”, Collins describes the frantic feeling that comes when a fact floats out of the brain. The person experiencing this tragic but everyday occurrence struggles to bring it back, but “the memories [the person] used to harbor decided to retire to the southern hemisphere of the brain, to a little...
In the essay I hope to explain why I picked each poem and to suggest
In the poem, Harjo portrays the importance of recalling the past to help shape one’s identity. She uses the repetition of the word “Remember” to remind that while the past may be history, it still is a defining factor in people’s lives (l. 1). This literary technique
Memory can be explained as the faculty by which the mind stores and remembers information. Some memories stay inside of your brain, with great detail. While others tend to fade away. Although you might not forget these memories completely, you will lose track of most details. Over the past few weeks, we, as a class, come into direct contact with these issues of memory. Memory is expressed greatly in two stories that were read over the past few weeks. Dry Season by Joe Wilkins, explains a whole story based off of the main characters memory of his father. While in Whatever Day It Is by Linda McCullough, the story is based on an elderly woman, and her memories of herself as a child. These two stories seem to take a unique, and different stance on memory.
The two poems I have chosen to explain are Piano by D H Lawrence and
“Still Memory” by Mary Karr is a poem that depicts the distant, childhood memory that the author fondly recalls. Karr’s nostalgic diction and word choice is evident when she says, “…till it found my old notch in the house I grew up in…” In this section, Karr is dreaming, hoping to find a happier time in her life, her childhood. Throughout the poem, Karr is recalling a time when she was only ten years old, and shows how each of her family members’ mannerisms influenced her and her future in writing. What may only appear to be the family performing their daily routine, is much more beneath the surface. According to the lines, “My ten-year-old hand reaches for a pen to record it all as would become long habit,” these actions are what influenced her writing. For writers, inspiration can come from the simplest of elements, and for Karr, this happened to be her family.
The poems facilitate the investigation of human experience through illustrating life’s transience and the longevity of memory.
In conclusion, although childhood is the main theme within all these poems, each reflects upon on a certain aspect of childhood. Half Past Two and Houses both dwell upon the creativity of childhood and the freedom it brings to children, who reside within ‘clockless land’ free of the responsibilities adulthood brings in Piano. Hide and Seek and Salford Road both seek to show us the process of growing up, and while Hide and Seek refers to the negative aspects of adulthood, Salford Road seems to represent the path to adulthood that all children must eventually go down. Finally Piano and Soap Suds brings to light the briefness of childhood, in addition the cherished memories that ‘summer’ brings to which all can escape to find solace and comfort.
When memory is used as a source for narrative in literature many of the essential qualities of conventional narratives are lost. However, Kathy’s narrative voice in Never Let Me Go is by no means exclusive, it instead resonates on a universal level; each individual’s memories are fundamental in forming their identity. The supposed unreliable aspects of Kathy’s narration are only unreliable in so far as they present an intimate portrait of this universal experience.
Pablo Neruda in the article Memories, he talks about his childhood memories and poetry, he describes some of the memories which seems to be vivid, however he was confused about some of his memories.
It is this moment of recollection that he wonders about the contrast between the world of shadows and the world of the Ideal. It is in this moment of wonder that man struggles to reach the world of Forms through the use of reason. Anything that does not serve reason is the enemy of man. Given this, it is only logical that poetry should be eradicated from society. Poetry shifts man’s focus away from reason by presenting man with imitations of objects from the concrete world.